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Summary
- The prayer of salvation admits sin, says that Jesus died and rose again, and asks him to be Lord and Savior; the Bible gives no fixed words for it, and Romans 10:9–10 is the passage behind it.
- Short biblical prayers say the same things: the tax collector’s “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13), the thief’s “Lord, remember me” (Luke 23:42) and Psalm 51.
- Older set prayers of repentance include the Orthodox Jesus Prayer, the General Confession of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and the Catholic Act of Contrition from the Baltimore Catechism of 1885.
- Many evangelicals, including Southern Baptists, see the prayer as the moment a person accepts Christ and baptize afterward; Catholic and Orthodox Christians teach that a person is joined to Christ in baptism.
- Next steps are to tell someone (Matthew 10:32), join a church (Acts 2:42), ask about baptism (Matthew 28:19) and read a Gospel (John 20:31).
- Churches differ on whether salvation can be lost: the Baptist Faith and Message says true believers “endure to the end,” while the Catholic Catechism says grave sin loses baptismal grace, which confession restores.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Psalm 51:1, 10; Matthew 5:44; 10:32; 28:19; Mark 1:15; 10:14; Luke 15:20; 18:13–14; 19:10; 23:42–43; John 10:28; 20:31; Acts 2:37–38, 42; 16:30–34; Romans 3:23; 5:8; 6:23; 10:9–10, 13; Ephesians 2:8–9; 1 Timothy 2:1–4; 1 Peter 3:15; 2 Peter 1:3; 3:9; 1 John 1:9; 5:13). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Morning Prayer, “A General Confession,” p. 6; Prayers and Thanksgivings, “For Missions,” p. 38. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- De Concilio, J. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, No. 2 (Baltimore Catechism), prepared and enjoined by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, imprimatur 1885. “An Act of Contrition.” Project Gutenberg eBook no. 14552. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14552
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraph 1213: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3G.HTM; paragraphs 1247–1248: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3K.HTM; paragraph 1257: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3M.HTM; paragraph 1272: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3N.HTM; paragraph 1446: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P4C.HTM
- Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), Articles IV “Salvation,” V “God’s Purpose of Grace” and VII “Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.” https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/
- Orthodox Church in America. “The Jesus Prayer.” The Orthodox Faith, vol. 4, Spirituality. https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/prayer-fasting-and-almsgiving/the-jesus-prayer
- Orthodox Church in America. “Baptism.” The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, Worship. https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the-sacraments/baptism
- Catholic Answers. “Catholic Answers Guide to the Sinner’s Prayer.” https://www.catholic.com/tract/the-sinners-prayer-catholic-answers-guide
- Perry, Tobin. “Finding (& Sharing) Jesus on the Romans Road to Salvation.” Word by Word, Logos, 29 November 2023. https://www.logos.com/grow/nook-romans-road-salvation/
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